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Original The Byrds version
The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting
The oranges are packed in their creosote dump
You're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To spend all their money to wade back again
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus e Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
And all they will call you will be "deportees"
Some of us are illegal, and others not wanted
Our work contract's out and we've got to move on
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus e Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
And all they will call you will be "deportees"
The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon
A fireball of lightning that shook all our hills
Who are all these dear friends who are scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says they were just deportees
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus e Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
And all they will call you will be "deportee"
Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus e Maria
[fades]
PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE) is a song written (words) by Woody Guthrie and set to music by Martin Hoffman. It was never recorded by Guthrie, but it was covered by many artists, most notably The Byrds on their 1969 album Ballad Of Easy Rider on Columbia Records (catalog # CS 9942).
The above lyrics are for the original The Byrds version of PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE) as released in 1969. Although The Byrds were not the first to record PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE), their version is the most known and almost certainly the one Bruce Springsteen covered.
The song has been covered by many artists, often under a variety of alternate titles, including "Deportees", "Ballad Of The Deportees", "Deportee Song", and "Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)". The latter is the title used on The Byrds' Ballad Of Easy Rider album. This website however uses the title "Plane Wreck At Los Gatos (Deportee)" as per the 'Til We Outnumber 'Em album (see the live 29 Sep 1996 version for more details).
Bruce Springsteen performed PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE) live once in 1981 and a few times in 1996. See the live 28 Aug 1981 version for more details.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE) on this website:
PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS (DEPORTEE) [Live 28 Aug 1981 version]